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By the time I get into the car I feel defeated. This is so damn hard. She’s just one little girl. Why is this so complicated?
My mother made everything look effortless. She workedandhad a good meal on the table at least four or five nights out of the week. As a kid I wanted for nothing. And unlike me, my mother never seemed all that stressed out about my schooling, my friends or my mental well-being.
I’m tempted to flip the guy behind me the bird when he honks his horn for the second time, but road rage is for morons and I know it’s not him that I’m mad at.
I’m mad at her.
Chapter Thirteen
Skylar
“Wow, Skylar…You look like an adult!”
“Is it too much?” I ask, pulling up the neckline of my black wrap dress. “I didn’t know what to wear to this thing.”
Looking at Miss Dawson’s more relaxed, bohemian get-up, I decide that I do look out of place. The professors are in blazers and dress pants, not necessarily suits, and the women look chic but informal. I’m dressed like an upscale member of the catering staff.
“You look gorgeous. You can never go wrong with black.”
I side-eye her. “Says Stevie Nicks.” And she giggles at that one.
“I am a bit on the colorful side tonight, so I’ll be the one sticking out.” She tilts her head to the side. “Jack will not be amused.”
“Can I call him Jax when you introduce us?”
“No!” She can barely contain her laughter now. “Although his reaction would be freaking priceless. And while we’re on the subject, stop calling me Miss Dawson. You’re not my student anymore and it makes me feel ancient. Call me Grace.”
“You got it, Grace. So, do you have to come to these events often?”
“Not so much…Once every other month? I don’t really mind it. I usually get to hear some great music or see a performance. Oh, and the stuffy professors Jack has to suck up to? Watching that scene reaffirms the decision I’ve made not to leave my job, so that’s an added incentive to suffer through these nights.”
“Why does he have to suck up?”
“It’s all about tenure. Until you get tenure you’re in limbo. And your future rests in the hands of these guys,” she adds, scanning the room. “There are a few women too, but this is still an old boys club.”
She turns when a man taps her shoulder and smiles down at her. “You’re late, Gracie.”
“Jack.” For all her teasing, it’s clear in the way she looks at him that she genuinely likes him. “Sorry, I told Skylar I’d meet her outside.”
With that, he looks to me and extends his hand as Grace introduces us. “It’s nice to meet you, Skylar.”
“Skylar is one of my former star pupils.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Jack nods. “She doesn’t hand out praise very often, so if she says it, I’ll take it as is bible truth.”
He takes Grace’s hand, and I can’t help but look down to study the way their fingers lace together, to watch as his thumb moves back and forth slowly over her skin.
“Skylar’s an education major. She just transferred here.”
Jack rouses me from my fog when he says, “Then welcome to Pitt.”
“Thank you.”
“So, education…What drove that decision?”
“I know it’s a cliché, but I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten. I remember playing school all the time when I was a little kid.” Looking to Grace, I add, “And I had some fantastic teachers along the way who really inspired me. I want to be that person for someone else.”
